soil plug

Can somebody tell me waht a soil plug is?

Sometimes, when a lawn is highly compacted, people will remove plugs to aerate the soil so air and water can get to the roots of the grass better. There are machines that you roll over the lawn and it removes plugs that are usually raked up and added to a compost pile or discarded.

I think you probably are asking about something else, though. There are companies that make and sell compressed "plugs" that are sort of like those compressed sponges- when you add water, they expand to a much larger size. These "soil plugs" are made mostly of cocoa fiber to which certain chemicals have been added for plant nutrition, and they are advertised as being a wonderful medium in which to grow pot plants.

Whether they offer any advantage over a good potting mix, especially given their relatively high cost, is debateable. If you do an Internet search you can find several brands that are on the market and see what the claims are.

Yeah I knew about the soil plug aeration thingy but it called for a soil plug for rooting a plant. I just couldn't picture what I knew as a soil plug as a plant starter, so I knew it had to be somthing different just didn't know what the other could be though. Thanks much for the info. Appreciated.

The most popular soil plug is the Jiffy system, which is a flat, with clear cover which has individual cells containing a compressed peat pellet. They work pretty well for seedlings, since the clear cover maintains heat and moisture within the flat. Another option is a product called Wonder Soil (www.wondersoil.com), which doesn't come with the flat, but if you have your own containers, they work pretty well, too. They're mostly coconut coir fiber and peat, and have better water retention than straight peat. The important thing is to not let these small cells dry out, because they quickly lose their absorptive qualities if allowed to completely lose all moisture, especially with the peat pellets.

Thanks! I really need this info since alot of this stuff I don't know about. I am an old time gardening type. Like my Dad was in his time. Then you didn't have all this kind of stuff to worry about. It was put it in the ground and manure and hope for the best. But Dad had the greenest thumb for just the simple ways I ever saw.
Thanks again

My dad was the same way, it was amazing what he got out of his garden. If you have the room, gardening in the ground is still the best; if you're limited on space, container gardening can be quite satisfying, as well.

Hey illini, where is Harvard IL at? I have been to Robinson, Lawrenceville and a couple other place over there but I have never heard of Harvard.

Harvard's about as far north as you can go in Illinois without being in Wisconsin. It's just a bit northeast of Rockford

Ok ! so it gets pretty cold up your way then? I have been to Wisconson,
Milwalkee. Beautiful country up in there. I just didn't like having to drive the outer loop of Chicago to get there. those people up there are nuts when it comes to driving. Not saying you are though LOL. It is just about as bad as Long Island NY, and that is saying alot LOL.